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​Biodiversity, God's blessing calls us to Care for Creation

​How Can We Escape Soaring Energy Bills?

December 13, 2022 - TED Talk
United Nations: Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, mainly caused by human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels.

​Recycling was a lie — a big lie — to sell more plastic

 December 7, 2021 - CBC - Passionate Eye 
Less than 10 per cent of the plastics we’ve used have been recycled. A new documentary reveals why.

Although our landfills and oceans are full of it, we are as dependent as ever on plastic. And since COVID-19, it's gotten worse. ...the conversation has been almost exclusively about recycling and not reducing and reusing.

Recycling logo was used as a green marketing tool, says industry expert

     Learn More at CBC Passionate Eye
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pepe ceron-balsas - Unsplash

​IPCC report is a warning and a call to action

Understanding the IPCC report and what you can do
​
August 26, 2021 - Ecojustice
This month’s IPCC report was tough to read, to say the least. Scientists have effectively issued a "code red for humanity" under the climate crisis. While the information detailed in the report can be overwhelming, there is still a path out of a climate catastrophe. Now more than ever, our communities must rally together to hold government and industry to 
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account — because a climate safe future is possible and worth fighting for. In this blog, we break down the IPCC report and ways you can channel feelings of climate anxiety into action.
               ....READ MORE

​What will it take to accept the truth about global climate change?

 August 25, 2021 - NCR, ​By Fr. Dan Horan, OFM
Those of us who have been following the ravaging consequences of global climate change for some time were not surprised by the major report issued last week by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In short, it is "terrifying," as one headline in The New Yorker accurately described it.
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 The gist of the findings is that the persistent denialism and widespread inaction on the part of many nations and global corporations over decades has set in motion an irreversible sequence that will result in the planet's warming "intensifying over the next 30 years."
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We have done this to our planet and we, as a species, are responsible.  ...Read more

​Ecosystem restoration for people, nature and climate

August 9, 2021 - UN Environment Programme
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Before and after image of the effects of three years of ecosystem restoration in Tanzania. Using bund-digging, the water level in the soil has been restored to regrow trees and grass (Just Diggit: 2018-2021)

Restoration is key to the prosperity and well-being of people. Vibrant ecosystems provide benefits from food and water to health and security that our growing population needs today and will need in the future.

       Countries need to live up to their commitments
                                 See where Canada lies on the global map

Bayer Confirms End of Sale of Glyphosate-Based Herbicides for US Lawn & Garden Market

August 9, 2021 - Sustainable Pulse
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Bayer have announced that they will no longer sell glyphosate-based herbicides to U.S. gardeners as of 2023, following the costly litigation battle over their cancer causing weedkiller Roundup. Where is Canada on this? FVC       Read More

​Greta Thunberg speech at the 2021 Austrian World Summit

July 4, 2021
Greta Thunberg live speech over Skype to Austrian conference. ... AUSTRIAN WORLD SUMMIT with Arnold Schwarzenegger" on July 01, 2021.

​Extreme heat, wildfires, storms marked advance of climate change in 2020 - Well it's 2021!

June 28, 2021 -NCR
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The National Catholic Reporter wrote in December 2020, "In a speech at Columbia
University Dec. 2, Guterres warned that continued growth in fossil fuel extraction and usage would feed a growing cycle of warming that will place all of humanity in danger.


"The state of the planet is broken. Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal," he said. Guterres' concern emerged as the World Meteorological Organization projected that 2020 would end about 1.2 degrees warmer than the last half of the 19th century when industrialization led to increased usage of oil, coal and natural gas. Climate scientists expect 2020 to be one of the three hottest years on record.

There is a unprecedented heat wave happening in the west. Records are being broken at an alarming rate. Learn more at Global News.


There is wide agreement among scientists that there are links between the changing climate and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

Also read the CBC Report from June 29, 2021 titled: 

$1.9B a year to address natural disasters in Canada among 4 takeaways from federal climate report

The article addresses: 
  • Infrastructure threats
  • Rising legal risks for government, companies 
  • Geopolitics: Arctic shipping changes, migration pressures
  • A silver lining in tourism, agriculture? 
                             READ THE STORY

Over 47 tons of plastic found at US marine reserve – and an entangled seal

April 28, 2021 - The Guardian
Expedition spent 24 days clearing 10 miles of shoreline in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, collecting 94,472lb marine debris
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A female endangered Hawaiian monk seal entangled in derelict fishing gear. Photo taken under Noaa/NMFS permit no 22677. Photograph: Matthew Chauvin of PMDP
                                                                            ....READ MORE

​More nuclear reactors (SMRs) for New Brunswick? [video]

March 25, 2021 - by Susan O'Donnell
In this 31-minute video O'Donnel gives an overview of the proposed nuclear reactors, their links to climate action, the financial risks involved, and radioactive waste. Startling information!

Greta Thunberg on Understanding the Climate Crisis Gravity 

February 8, 2021- Now This

What have toilets got to do with climate change?

November 10, 2020
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Flood, drought and rising sea levels threaten sanitation systems – from toilets to septic tanks to treatment plants. Everyone must have sustainable sanitation that can withstand climate change and keep communities healthy and functioning.             Learn More

       #WorldToiletDay                                              November 19 is www.worldtoiletday.org

​More than 14m tonnes of plastic believed to be at the bottom of the ocean

October 6. 2020 - The Guardian

Thirty times more plastic on ocean floor than surface, analysis suggests, but more trapped on land than sea

​                         Learn More

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 Photograph: Paulo Oliveira/Alamy Stock Photo

Tiny but deadly: Cigarette butts

September 10, 2010 - EARTHDAY.ORG
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If I asked you, what is the most common form of plastic pollution, what would you say? Plastic bottles? Straws? 
While these are good guesses, they are not the correct answer. Cigarette butts are actually the most abundant form of plastic waste in the world, with about 4.5 trillion individual butts polluting our global environment. 
But wait, aren’t cigarette butts made of cotton or paper? NO, cigarette butts are primarily plastic.
                          ....READ MORE


Urgent action is needed now!

Canadians throw away three million tonnes of plastic each year.
September 3, 2020 - Environmental Defense
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Last June, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Canada would ban certain single-use plastics as early as 2021. But with only four months left in the year, this government is running out of time to keep its promise.              TAKE ACTION!

What happened when we all stopped” narrated by Jane Goodal

July 27, 2020

Urge Prime Minister to take urgent and swift measures to address climate emergency - please take action

June 24, 2020
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In celebration of the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, the Joint Ecological Ministry (JEM) called on Catholics across Canada to unite and demand the government “take immediate concrete actions to flatten the curve of global warming and move towards a just and sustainable future.”

We are calling on all Secular Franciscans and their fraternities to support this call on government to act now. Download the model letter that you can use, modify and send to Trudeau. Be sure to add a date at the top and name with signature at the end.  (The letter was originally prepared by Catholics United for Climate Action c/o Ministry for Social Justice, Peace, and Creation Care, Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto)

We’re making garbage patches on the ocean floor, too​

May 7, 2020 - Ars Technica
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Photo: I Kane, 2020
Microplastics are transported in the deep sea by turbidity currents and bottom currents, which concentrate them in hotspots known as sediment drifts.  ....read more

Sigh of relief from earth!

Uplifting message from National Geographic.
April 30, 2020

​NASA images show a decrease in China's pollution

March 3, 2020
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                  The satellite images have detected a significant decreases in nitrogen dioxide over China.

(CNN)Satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency reveal that air pollution over China has gone down since the coronavirus outbreak.

Production in many factories has been halted and transportation has been restricted to prevent spreading the virus....READ MORE

                 This is an amazing change showing that there is hope! - FVC

UPDATE:
​Teck withdraws application for $20B Frontier oilsands mine

February 24, 2020 - CBC

Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd., has withdrawn its application to build a massive oilsands project in northern Alberta, citing the ongoing debate over climate policy in Canada.
              ......Read More

   This is great news. Now if we could only get government investing in the alternatives!
​ - FVC

​8 Reasons To Reject Teck’s Massive New Tar Sands Mine

February 10, 2020 - GCCM Canada

Work at an existing tar sands mine. If completed, the Frontier mine would be the largest ever - covering an area twice the size of Vancouver. 
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This megaproject would impact Indigenous communities, derail Canada’s ability to meet our climate targets, and destroy habitats critical for iconic species at risk of extinction. All for the sake of the pocketbooks of a small number of corporate executives.
​

Read the 8 reasons to reject Tecks new massive tar sand mine - Take Action

Leaders are moving in the right direction -
​​Britain to ban the sale of new gas, diesel and hybrid cars - 2035

February 5, 2020 - NBC News
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LONDON — Britain will ban the sale of new gas, diesel and hybrid vehicles from 2035, five years earlier than planned, in an attempt to reduce air pollution and fossil fuel emissions, the government announced on Tuesday.      READ MORE...

​Sobeys to stop using plastic shopping bags - Jan 31, 2020

January 23, 2020 - Global NB
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Great news! Thanks Sobeys.
​...all 255 Sobeys stores across Canada will switch from plastic to paper and reusable bags at check stands by the end of January.
Sobeys, which is owned by Empire Company Ltd., estimates the move will eliminate 225 million plastic check stand bags – just over 1,200 tonnes – every year.     Read more...

​​Creation care cannot be an afterthought

December 8, 2019 - the B.C. Catholic by Christine Legal
Four and a half years after the publication of Laudato Si’, Catholic enthusiasm for the environment is still going strong.
​

At the global level, for example, there is the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM), an umbrella organization representing over 650 Catholic groups and tens of thousands of individuals from all over the planet. To date, members have hosted hundreds of prayer services; marched by the tens of thousands in mass climate demonstrations; divested millions of dollars from fossil fuel investments (including by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and Caritas agencies in Italy, Singapore, Australia, and Norway); and collected nearly one million signatures on a climate petition that was endorsed by Pope Francis and submitted to GOP leaders at the Paris climate talks.
​
               ....READ MORE
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FVC Editor Margaret Ross, ofs, with a sign showing how she tries to #LiveLaudatoSi as a member of A Rocha Canada.

​Climate scientists warn we're on the precipice of disastrous 'tipping points'

November 30, 2019 - CBC Radio​
Slow temperature changes could 'tip over' into catastrophic, fast and irreversible transformation - CBC Radio · Posted: Nov 29, 2019 4:22 PM ET
​
The world may be teetering on the brink of a potentially irreversible cascade of climate tipping points that scientists say could lead to an "existential threat to civilization." 
According to a new commentary published in the prestigious science journal Nature, we are so close to at least one or two of these tipping points — the thresholds beyond which a slow change tips over into big and abrupt planetary transformations — that we can't rule out the process has already begun.    Read More....                     Listen 9:51 - CBC Radio
Also see: ‘Bleak’ U.N. Report on a Planet in Peril Looms Over New Climate Talks
  from the New York Times

​Ban chlorpyrifos!

November 28, 2019 - Avaaz
It’s the most dangerous pesticide you’ve never heard of, linked to cancer, brain damage, and nerve disorders -- and it’s everywhere.

Chlorpyrifos is the chemical industry’s dirtiest secret, topping sales everywhere, but kept from the media spotlight. And it’s no surprise — it traces back to nerve agents developed in a Nazi lab! Now it’s in our food, air and drinking water.       Read more
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Add your voice

​Coca-Cola is world's biggest plastics polluter – again

November 9, 2019 - The Guardian

​Volunteers in 51 countries collected plastic waste and the soft drink manufacturer’s products cropped up the most often Coca-Cola has been named the world’s largest polluter of plastics for the second year in a row, according to an ​
audit conducted by Break Free From Plastic.

                   READ MORE
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Greta Thurberg blasts world leaders in emotional speech

September 26, 2019 - Global News
Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg on Monday opened the United Nations Climate Action Summit with an angry condemnation of world leaders for failing to take strong measures to combat climate change.

Climate change is the most important life issue today - Dan Horan

September 5, 2019 - NCR
In recent decades there has been some nasty infighting among Catholics who argue about which life issue is the most important, especially in guiding one's political choices. Some groups — often the loudest — say abortion is the single most important life issue. Others say euthanasia or assisted suicide is the most important. Still others, in keeping with the church's longstanding tradition of the sanctity of all life, say that we cannot single out one such issue but recognize that as Catholics we must maintain a consistent ethic of life, an ethical outlook sometimes referred to as the "seamless garment" approach... 
Header image by Patrick Brinksma
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​Billion Dollar Buyout

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Less than 24 hours after declaring a climate emergency, the Trudeau government announced it will be moving forward with the climate-polluting Trans Mountain pipeline project.

This project will ensure the expansion of the tar sands in Alberta, Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and take us even more off track from meeting our environmental commitments in the face of impending climate disaster.

Beyond that, a new report outlines why the Trans Mountain pipeline is a bad economic choice and the benefits of the project have been grossly overstated.

Petition: Tell Trudeau to stop the Trans Mountain pipeline

​7 secrets that forests have been keeping from you

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May 27, 2019 - FAO UN
Forests do more for us than we realize. They clean our water and filter our air, and they provide food, medicine and fuel for more than a billion people worldwide. ​
Here are 7 ways how and some of their best kept secrets:
  1. Supermarkets – Almost 50 percent of the fruit we eat comes from trees...​
  2. Life insurance - Some communities rely almost exclusively on forests for their food sources. Around 40 percent of the extreme rural poor – around 250 million people...
  3. Water Fountain- Forests provide a large part of the drinking water...
  4. Energy - Around one-third of the world’s population use wood as their source of energy for necessities such as cooking, boiling water and heating...
  5. Superhero- Forests and trees...are like Superman....in the fight against climate change...removing pollutants....tackle land degradation and stand up against biodiversity loss ...
  6. Carbon sinks - act as carbon sinks, absorbing the equivalent of roughly 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year...
  7. Recreation – Trees are stress relievers...Nature-based tourism is growing ...accounts for... 20 % of the global market...
                            Read full article

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This world is pregnant with God, Saint Angela of Foligno, ofs, 1248-1309

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